COUDERSPORT — Hoping to promote early childhood programs, supports and community resources, the Potter County Early Childhood Team is planning the first Potter County Early Childhood Expo for families with infants to children ready to enter kindergarten.
The expo, sponsored by JKLM Energy, is set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 8 at the Coudersport Elementary School, 802 Vine St. The event is free and open to the public.
Highlights include free books and games and door-prize giveaways, including Kindles and amusement park tickets. There will also be story time, preschool science activities, make-and-take crafts and games and activities to promote fine motor and gross motor skills.
A visit from Smokey Bear, snacks and lunch will also be included. Children may receive speech/language, vision, dental and other developmental screenings.
Information and demonstrations on child development and early learning will be offered and registration for early learning programs and services will be available.
Potter County Commissioner Doug Morley, an Early Childhood Team member, said that early learning is an important issue and stresses that “all citizens play an important role in the development of children. That is why this expo is so critical. It puts all of the experts in the same room; parents, grandparents, educators and child serving agencies.”
Team members note that a recent U.S. Department of Education report states that six out of 10 children are unprepared for kindergarten. The 2016 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results indicate that 45 percent of third-grade students in the state are not proficient in math and 39 percent are not proficient in reading/language.
Research clearly demonstrates that participation in early childhood programs has a significant and lasting impact on social, literacy, language and math skills, yet more than 50 percent of children in Potter County are missing out on free early learning programs, team members say.
Dr. Marlene Wust-Smith, a pediatrician with Cole Memorial Hospital, notes that she had the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a pediatrician from Boston “known as the grandfather of developmental pediatrics.”
Quoting Brazelton, Wust-Smith notes, “Early childhood is both the most critical and the most vulnerable time in any child’s development … in the first few years, the ingredients for intellectual, emotional, and moral growth are laid down. We cannot fail children in these early years.”
To participate as a vendor or learn more about the event, call 274-4877.
